The 2023 Oscars were bound to be a mostly civilized affair because, and this is sheer speculation, that’s the natural bounce-back reaction the year after an Oscar nominee-about-to-be-turned-winner hauls off and Slaps the host. This year, the emphasis was on the awards with a few sparse moments raising eyebrows. Surely, the actual Slap jokes could have gone a lot further.
One (unrelated) joke may have gone too far, according to some people, although other people couldn’t help but snort-laugh. That would be Jimmy Kimmel’s nearly offhanded mention of a phone-in poll to ask viewers if Beretta and In Cold Blood star Robert Blake should be included in the customary “In Memoriam” section of the broadcast. Blake, of course, remained a controversial figure — due to being criminally acquitted but held civilly liable in his wife’s 2001 death — up until his death late last week at age 89.
Andrew Garfield’s instant meme face (from earlier in the broadcast) became a handy social media reaction when Kimmel offered his most incendiary joke of the evening.
Very quickly, people reacted. Blake passed only a few days ago, so perhaps it’s too soon? A vocal contingent, however, enjoyed the morbid nature of the joke, both despite and in spite of its savageness.
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Still, others were not fans of the joke and did feel that it should have been skipped and/or Blake should have been included in the segment.
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